the Republican budget plan - "simultaneously ridiculous and heartless"

[hfojvt]

From Krugman, although he sorta gets too complicated in explaining things. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/08/opinion/08krugman.html?_r=2&ref=todayspaper

He starts with 4 paragraphs of this:

"First, Republicans have once again gone all in for voodoo economics — the claim, refuted by experience, that tax cuts pay for themselves."

Sorta goes on and on, instead of just saying something like "They make the ridiculous claim that cutting taxes for rich people will increase government revenue. The public may have believed that in 1981, but now, and especially after 2001, we should know better."


This point is done well.


"And then there’s the much-ballyhooed proposal to abolish Medicare and replace it with vouchers that can be used to buy private health insurance.

The point here is that privatizing Medicare does nothing, in itself, to limit health-care costs. In fact, it almost surely raises them by adding a layer of middlemen. Yet the House plan assumes that we can cut health-care spending as a percentage of G.D.P. despite an aging population and rising health care costs.

The only way that can happen is if those vouchers are worth much less than the cost of health insurance..."


Still, "ridiculous and heartless" is a phrase that should be widely used. I would add insulting. That the GOP would put forth such a ridiculous plan and expect to be taken seriously. They must really think the American people are stupid, or they just have great confidence in their ability to spread lies to defend their ridiculous plan.

Then again, they put forward a similar plan last year and still got swept into control of the House.